As an international direct student at USC, you’ll receive:

• Exclusive and rigorous academic coursework
• Priority access to in-demand courses that fit your interests
• Guidance from academic advisors and mentors
• Career development and networking opportunities
• Intensive classes with domestic students

One of the nation’s Top 10 geography programs, the Department of Geography also ranks among the best graduate programs nationally, according to the recent National Research Council (NRC) report. It is the only program in South Carolina to offer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in geography.

Geography has existed for millennia as a field of study that concerns itself with the natural features of the earth’s surface and the ways in which human societies transform their environments through settlement, economic development, trade, governance, and cultural production. Geographers count among their ranks some of the world’s greatest explorers, including 14th century traveler Ibn Battuta and the brilliant 18th century naturalist Alexander Von Humboldt.  

The word "geography" literally means "writing/describing the earth," and geographers are trained to be keen observers of natural and human environments. Rather than seeking simple, one-size-fits-all answers to social and environmental questions, geographers consider the complexity of contexts and the ways in which political, economic and natural processes interact to create diverse landscapes.

The contemporary discipline of geography has come to encompass a variety of topic areas, including weather and climate, landforms, environmental change, urbanization, migration, political boundaries and economic development. If you're fascinated with the world’s immense diversity and you want to gain an in-depth understanding of the pressing social and environmental challenges facing the world today, then geography is for you!

The Department of Geography’s undergraduate program offers the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) and Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees.

Geography majors develop skills to:

• Gather, assess, analyze, interpret and display data
• Solve mathematical and computational problems
• Create maps
• Integrate databases
• Communicate effectively with writing and speaking
• Understand abstract concepts and articulate these to a range of audiences
• Think and plan spatially
• Recognize the moral and ethical issues involved in debates
• Visualize and analyze relationships between processes and places
• Think multi-dimensionally and holistically to solve complex problems
• Apply rhetorical theory to professional practice
• Understand the composition of Earth and the processes that operate on it

The potential career paths for Geography graduates are community developer, environmental scientist, forestry technician, landscape architect, nature conservation officer, park ranger, professor, policy researcher soil scientist etc..